Model: Scribe (Model Humans Book 2)

by Nix Whittaker

  Germaine said next to her, “That is Hinata. She is the oldest of us. Got amnesia at some stage and was set up to look after the first generation. She’ll go to talk to your people.”

  “Not my people. I’m a Scribe.” Germaine didn’t disagree with her but merely raised an eyebrow. He was right. Was she really just a Scribe or was she more than she had been before she had left her cosy career behind?

  Without blinkers she couldn’t say she agreed with what her people had done. These Warriors had been lied to their entire lives and hidden away to one day die and fight in a war that only the Scribes wanted to fight. That didn’t seem right to her.

  There was plenty of space on Ardin for the other humans. They could even go to another continent if there was any conflict between the two groups. There was no reason to kill humans who had travelled the same journey they had just because they came second. It wouldn’t be long before the earth humans started having children and they would be just Ardin as they were. For the Scribes to be so selfish felt like shattered glass inside of her that grated every time she thought about it. Instead, it was easier to push it aside and just not think about it. Unfortunately, that meant when she brushed up against the thoughts without preparation, they were even sharper than before.

  Kynaston asked, “Germaine are you coming with us?”

  “Yes, Kat is logistics not a fighter. She’ll stay behind with Jorg and organise the others here to hear what we learned from you. These are our best and they will represent us to the other models.”

  Kynaston looked over the Warriors. Besides the older woman Hinata all the rest were young. Mostly male though there were a few women amongst them. They seemed all of a type to Sorcha but she had never been a good person at observing people. The stars were her area of expertise and unfortunately that wasn’t needed here.

  Hinata called out and everyone moved like the gears of a machine. They all knew where they were to go. Wynn whistled and they all jumped into his vehicle and they moved into position between the other vehicles. They were a motley group as the vehicles the Warriors had scrounged together were re-purposed farm vehicles. They must have worked on them overnight to have them ready for this trip.

  A whine overhead grew loud enough that they could hear it over the sound of the vehicles. Hinata waved a hand and the vehicles broke up into different directions. One pulled a sheet off the back of the truck at the back to reveal a weapon of something.

  When the drone came into view, the Warriors had already set the sight for the drone. How they knew where the drone would come from Sorcha didn’t know but the drone was barely in range when the rear vehicle started shooting. The sound deafened Sorcha and she crouched down in the rover.

  Wynn didn’t even slow down as they pushed through the overgrown road they had taken. The drone spat out some fire and then veered to the side before it crashed into the foliage of the fiains. The other Warriors in their vehicles came back into formation and they started their journey.

  Wynn said, “Seems like the news gone viral and the Scribes aren’t happy about it.” Sorcha had to agree.

  She watched the skies in case they sent another drone but they soon moved into denser fiains and it was impossible to see the sky let alone a drone.

  Kynaston asked, “You all right?” she frowned at the question. He elaborated. “Your people just sent a drone to kill the Warriors because they dared to leave their own home. They were keeping them prisoner.”

  Sorcha felt that glass inside of her cutting again. “I don’t know what to think Kynaston. I know it is my people but it wasn’t me. The only thing I can own to it all is that I didn’t bother to stop it either.”

  Kynaston reached out and took her hand. “That isn’t what I meant.” He didn’t explain anymore and the bleeding of her soul made her retreat and patch it up instead of trying to explore it any more.

  Serenity city gleamed. Unlike the Warrior city it wasn’t hidden away in the fiains but nestled in at the base of the mountain. When they had travelled from the other side of the city, they hadn’t been able to appreciate the way it looked. The spires in the centre of the dome were delicate. There were no prefab buildings decaying along the edges and all the farming was done within. Strategically that was important while Jing City had all been about the massive expansion in the least amount of time and town planning hadn’t been a priority.

  Sorcha thought it a little belittling that passion had built such a beautiful city when logic had clashed with needs to create something as vulgar as Jing City.

  Sorcha recoiled as something green landed on the hood of the rover. Wynn veered to the side but whatever was on the hood managed to keep its traction. Another thing landed on the back of the rover and Kynaston pulled her down.

  The creature on the hood looked up and revealed itself to be a person. It was covered head to toe in camouflage and when it moved, it was eerie as the twigs and bark of the outfit made it appear that a tree had decided to get up and walk. A gleam of a blade was the first thing she saw though and pulled back as the assassin in the front of the rover attacked.

  Pain sliced into her shoulder from behind. She had forgotten about the attacker who had landed on the back of the rover. Kynaston yelled and there was a gunshot. Sorcha pulled herself down further in the seat.

  Kynaston covered her body with his own. Almost suffocating her. All she could focus on was the pain. Their vehicles came to a standstill and Kynaston pulled himself away from her.

  He slapped a hand to her shoulder and yelled out to the others. Wynn’s face appeared in front of her but it only made her realise that things were fading in and out. Kynaston said something and then touched her face.

  The pain faded and he said, “Hold on. We aren’t far from the city. I’ve stopped the bleeding. You will be alright. But it is best if you go to sleep now.”

  Hinata’s face materialised behind Kynaston. “One is dead. We have secured the other.”

  Kynaston nodded but Sorcha could feel the edges of sleep pulling her in. At least there wasn’t any pain even though she knew there should be.

  21

  Serenity

  Kynaston stood at the side of the bed. He glanced up when his grandmother said, “We have word.” He frowned by her comment that stood in isolation. She elaborated though when he didn’t add anything, “The prophet called. She said that you don’t have to worry about the assassins anymore.”

  Aki hesitated at the door. He could see the strain on her face being here in a hospital. He said, “She’ll be alright. I’ll meet you back at the apartment.”

  Aki snorted. “Your mother is staying there. I’ve set up a place for you in one of the other towers.”

  He thanked her but she shook her head, “There is still a traitor amongst us. I’m hoping they will show their hand with you. If the prophet thinks you are safe, though I don’t know if we will ever find out who they were.”

  Aki nodded to him and left.

  Kynaston pulled a chair over and picked up Sorcha’s hand. She was asleep but he could take comfort from the touch even if she couldn’t. He had only been there for a while when Aaru appeared at the door.

  She leaned against the frame and asked, “Hey.” Her voice soft with love and concern. Kynaston felt guilty considering all the things he had put Aaru through in her life. He glanced at Sorcha. She was starting to wake up and he didn’t want to disturb her with his conversation with his sister, so he reluctantly released her hand and walked out the room.

  He looked around for Kaidan but Aaru had come on her own. She raised an eyebrow in query and he said, “I’m sorry.”

  “For what? For looking after the family. For not giving us away even though grandmother said you knew all about the serenity city.”

  He shook his head. “For being a jerk.”

  She shrugged. “I understood. Maybe not back then but living with an empath for the last few years has made me more aware of what was going on back then. Also, mum has told me a few things.”
>
  Her face softened. “That I’m sorry about. Mom said she treated you like crap. I hadn’t realised it but she always kept you out in the cold.”

  Kynaston shrugged it off. “It was nothing. At least I had dad.”

  Aaru’s face went pale. “Sorry about dad as well. You see mom told me some of their marriage. She only married him because he was descended from a male Serenity. She didn’t want any of us kids to turn out like her or her mother so she picked dad. He thought it was a love match as he adored mom and when he found out that it wasn’t reciprocated, he turned on everything Serenity as he still couldn’t bring himself to hate mom. That is why he hated it when I showed my Serenity side and why he made you try to be so Rustic. It was his own issues that were taken out on us. Mom couldn’t handle what Dad was doing to you so she wouldn’t hurt she pushed you away.”

  He shook his head. It couldn’t be that simple yet as he thought, it all fit together. He could see how the way his parents interacted and how his father had only ever rewarded him when he was more rustic than any other rustic. In the end it had alienated him from the other Serenities and made him feel inadequate because no matter what he did he would never be Rustic enough for his father or even the other Rustics.

  Aaru motioned her head towards the room that Sorcha was resting in, “How are you two?”

  She wriggled her eyebrows to indicate she was asking about more than their health.

  Kynaston sighed and said, “I think I might just be crazy for her. And I don’t know if that is a bad thing or not.”

  “Why would that be a bad thing?”

  “Aaru, I don’t know if you get what happened to me in that place but it broke me.”

  She reached out and touched the back of his hand just briefly with the tips of her fingers. “I know. But you aren’t completely broken and what does that have to do with caring about Sorcha.”

  “What if I never try to fix what is broken about me and just lean on Sorcha.”

  “Never going to happen.”

  He snorted and she shook her head seriously. “Aki wouldn’t allow it. She will do some more mind tricks on you before she let that ever happen. I told you living with her has certainly been an eye opener. She won’t let you go crazy literally for Sorcha.” Kynaston let out a breath. Not ready to let himself believe that he could let go of the worry that had been haunting him since he had figured out he was in love with Sorcha.

  Aaru patted his cheek and asked, “Well, if you think it isn’t healthy to be with her then you have to let her go.” The sudden pain in his chest took his breath for a moment. He was about to vehemently deny that would ever happen when he saw the mirth flickering in his sister’s eyes.

  She said, “As I thought. Now what are you going to do about it?”

  Kynaston gaped at her. She had really tricked him into facing his own emotions. He still wasn’t sure he was completely fixed but he knew that no matter what he couldn’t face another day without Sorcha at his side. He wasn’t even sure if she would stay with him here. It wasn’t like either of them could return to Jing City.

  The Scribe government was after Sorcha and even if the prophet assured them that no other assassins would be sent it didn’t mean it would be completely safe for Sorcha to return home. Aaru laughed at the look on his face and patted his shoulder left him.

  Kynaston returned to the room. Sorcha was awake and pushing herself up on the bed.

  He took the seat next to her and she smiled at him. She then frowned and said, “I still feel groggy.”

  He patted her hand. “Let me see if I can fix that.” His mental abilities on other minds wasn’t the best but he also knew he could do this. He helped clear her mind and she sighed as the drugs faded.

  She pulled the hospital gown away from her shoulder and said, “Wow, not even a scar.”

  “Yeah, we got you here quick enough for some Serenities with abilities to work on us. Apparently, my wound is a different issue and I’ll have a scar.”

  She tugged on his shirt and he tilted so she could move his shirt away to see the wound. It wasn’t anything spectacular and the Serenity doctors had sealed it and it was no longer the angry red it had been the night before. She patted his arm and said, “A scratch.”

  He smiled at her as she couldn’t hide the concern in her voice. He said, “Marry me.” She blinked and he realised he had said it out loud. He blushed and cleared his throat. “I love you Sorcha and I want to marry you. Wherever you go, I’ll go. I don’t care. We can move to that mountain observatory and you can watch the earth human ship and the stars for the rest of your life and I’ll be happy just to keep you company.”

  She put her hand over his mouth and he blushed even more at the babbling. She said, “I’d love to marry you. I love you. But I need… I need to tell my dad I’m alright. He will worry about me.”

  Kynaston pursed his lips. It would be dangerous but there were more dangerous things they had done in the last week. He nodded his head, “Anything for you.”

  22

  Scribe

  Sorcha was nervous as she stood outside her childhood home. They had walked the last two kilometres to make sure no one was following them or about to attack. But nothing had happened and now they were standing there. Sorcha put in her code for the door. It slid open.

  She didn’t look back, knowing that Kynaston would follow her without her making sure. His presence was the only thing that gave her courage to enter. The house was dark but she knew this time of the night her dad was probably working in his office. She could see that there was a light under the door.

  She didn’t knock but opened the door. The place was a mess. There were flexis on the floor along with bottles of alcohol. Her dad was leaning back in his chair. When he saw her, he raised his glass, “Oh the irony. Now I have your ghost to haunt me.”

  He was abysmally drunk. “Dad.”

  “So sorry, my dear. I didn’t mean to kill you.”

  “You didn’t.” Her words petered off when she understood what her father was saying. “It was you. You were the one who sent all those assassins. I almost died.”

  Her fist curled in anger she had no idea how to deal with. Everything in her life was a lie. Her father wasn’t the tortured man by his broken marriage who had given up his career to be a public servant. Instead, he was a man that hired assassins.

  Her voice was soft as she asked, “What else have you done? Are you the one responsible for the warrior babies?”

  He saluted with his glass. “Oh, what a disaster that was. We first tried chimeras. What a miserable outcome. Not a true fighter amongst them. They just wanted to settle down and have babies. They wouldn’t even kill on command. Then we thought we would make them from scratch. Isolate them from that silly notion of honour. And what do they do? Create their own notion of honour.”

  He swung his cup so it sloshed as he spoke so passionately about the topic. Kynaston said softly behind her, “Sorcha?”

  His eyes asked more than the soft question. Would they be telling her father after all what they had found out? Would they tell him about them getting married? Sorcha pursed her lips as she made her choice. “Dad, I’m leaving. I’m marrying a Serenity.”

  He snorted. “Losers as well. Never had the backbone to make good leaders. Why the scientists thought they had what it takes nobody knows.”

  Sorcha interrupted, “Dad. Dad, you need to listen. I’m not coming back. I don’t want you to come looking for me either.” She stepped back and her father saluted her and Sorcha wondered if he would remember this visit at all or if he would continue to believe he had been talking to her ghost.

  23

  Serenity

  Kynaston watched Sorcha as she talked to the others at the reception. The ceremony had been pleasant. Not something he had expected. He had visions of his mother creating a scene at some stage. But after talking with Aaru he felt better about his relationship with his mother.

  Aki stood near him. She never stood near a
nyone and with so many people around he was surprised to see her at all. He was warmed that she had made the effort. He wanted to reach out and give her a hug but he knew it would be difficult with her powers of empathy. Powers she couldn’t turn off because she was missing the gene needed. The gene his own father had added to their family.

  Without his Rustic father he would suffer the same as his grandmother.

  She said, “We got the assassin to talk.”

  It had been months. He was shocked the assassin was even still alive. Not that he thought the serenities would have him executed only he had seen the commitment of the assassin and he had thought the man would have found some way to kill himself by this stage. “We know who the inside man is. He killed himself when we came from him so we don’t know who recruited him.”

  Neither of them said Sorcha’s father’s name but they knew he was the link. The man on the Scribe government who was the brainchild of the mess they were all in.

  It reminded him of the Warrior delegation who had come to speak to the Serenities. “How has the negotiations going with the warriors?”

  Aki’s eyes wrinkled. “Long and tedious but enlightening. The warriors see things in a very manner to our people. I thought I understood with Kaidan. But these people haven’t been exposed to the other cultures and they demonstrate a pure strain of the warrior culture.”

  Kaidan was on the other side of the room talking with one of them now. Kynaston was sure it was Kaidan’s inclusion in the talks that made it successful at all.

  Kaidan’s daughter rushed up to him and offered Kynaston a hand. She glanced at Aki and said, “You can go now.”

  Aki muttered, “Bossy child.” But she walked off. She had most likely only come to see him anyway.